Fred Albrecht held down fort for UNLV on regular basis
In 1864, the story goes, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman wired a military order to Gen. John M. Corse back at Union Army headquarters in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The directive was supposed to say “hold on, relief is coming.” It came out “hold the fort,” and then after that, it became “hold down the fort.”
Which reminded a lot of people around here of Fredrick C. Albrecht.
With a name like that, one almost could see Fred Albrecht holding down a fort, had he been a military man, or had he sported a bushy mustache, or had he lived during the Civil War. Fred Albrecht, who died Friday at age 71 after a lengthy illness, was a hold-down-the-fort kind of guy.
He was UNLV’s hold-down-the-fort guy.
He was, as the university’s headline confirming his death proclaimed, a campus icon.
I only knew him as the Rebels’ interim athletic director, a title he held twice. He held down the athletic fort in such an honorable fashion during the troubled waters era in 1995 that they asked him to do it again in 2003.
Fred Albrecht could get along with anybody, people said. He worked for seven university presidents during a 38-year career as coach, teacher and administrator. He got along with them all.
“I never heard him say anything bad about anybody,” said Bob Miller, the former Nevada governor. “And I never heard anybody say anything bad about Fred.”
Albrecht was raised in the smokestack town of Youngstown, Ohio. It was basketball that brought him to UNLV, as it brought so many here — he was a graduate assistant coach under John Bayer, during the early 1970s.
After earning his master’s degree, he joined the faculty as a physical education instructor. When UNLV needed a guy to hold down the fort as tennis coach, Fred Albrecht volunteered.
From 1974 through 1983, his teams won 230 matches and lost only 80 for a winning percentage of .742. With an Agassi as his star player — Phil Agassi — Albrecht’s teams won 20 matches during five consecutive seasons, and seven times overall.
He held down the fort, and then some.
Bob Miller said he met Albrecht in 1973, when Miller was a police attorney and Albrecht was 6 feet 7. Miller was putting a basketball team together to play in the Police Olympics. And so began a close friendship that endured for more than 40 years.
Albrecht served as godfather for Miller’s daughter, Corrinne. They were friends and confidants, and when Albrecht was open during their many, many, many rec league basketball games over the years, Miller usually passed him the ball.
In 1983, Albrecht stepped down from coaching tennis to become UNLV’s Director of Alumni Relations and its principal fundraiser. He led the effort to build the Tam Alumni Center and Rebel Alumni Park adjacent to Sam Boyd Stadium.
He received the UNLV President’s Medal in 2012, which is totally prestigious; later that year, he was inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame for sports, which was pretty prestigious, too.
Even after he retired, Albrecht continued to work as a university advocate; he spearheaded the Jerry Tarkanian Legacy Project, resulting in UNLV’s legendary basketball coach being immortalized with a bronze statue in the shadow of the Thomas & Mack Center.
Even toward the end, when he could no longer speak because of the ravages of cancer, he would want to know how the Rebels were doing. Miller would text message during basketball games updating his friend on the score and what was happening.
“He was just a warm, wonderful guy,” Miller said, adding that Albrecht left behind a wife, Connie, and a daughter, Michelle, and about 100,000 proud alumni in the association he created.
“To use a sports analogy, he was a utility infielder. He did everything you asked. UNLV was blessed to have had him.”
Fred Albrecht’s life will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday at the UNLV student union. A reception will follow at the Alumni Center.
Because he was the sort of guy who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and never tooted his own horn, I only remember one conversation with him. It was one of the times he was interim athletic director. What I mostly remember is that he towered over me.
He must have played ball somewhere, I remember thinking. He had played at Kent State.
I found a newspaper clipping from 1966, about how vaunted Syracuse had rallied to defeat the Golden Flashes, 100-86.
The story said Syracuse was led by Dave Bing, the great All-American who would go on to star in the NBA with the Pistons and become mayor of Detroit. The story said Kent State had contained Dave Bing, and that Fred Albrecht led the Flashes with 17 points.
Bob Miller said that when his dear friend was holding down UNLV’s fort with consummate honor and professionalism, he never mentioned having outplayed the great Dave Bing in college.
“I probably should have passed him the ball more often,” the former governor said.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski
